Patents by Inventor Bernd Spanfelner

Bernd Spanfelner has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 12371013
    Abstract: A method for operating a driver assistance system of a vehicle includes the steps of: checking whether there is a motorway exit or roadworks on a first side of the vehicle; checking whether an environment sensor system of the vehicle detects a lane marking that bounds a lane of the vehicle on a second side, which is opposite the first side; if the result of the checking is that there is a motorway exit or roadworks on the first side of the vehicle and that the environment sensor system detects the lane marking, operating a lane-keeping function of the driver assistance system; and if the result of the checking is that there is a motorway exit or roadworks on the first side of the vehicle and that the environment sensor system does not detect the lane marking, triggering a takeover request to a driver of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2025
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Dirk De Bruin, Sebastian Gruenwedel, Christine Kock, Pascal Minnerup, Daniel Niehues, Sebastian Rauch, Markus Schurius, Bernd Spanfelner
  • Publication number: 20250153729
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a driving assistance system for a vehicle, which is designed to detect one or more factors providing one or more items of guidance for a situation in which the vehicle finds itself, to detect a confirmation action performed by a vehicle occupant; and to execute a driving assistance function according to the detected factor or the detected factors and according to the detected confirmation action. An influence of the detected confirmation action on the executing of the driving assistance function is weighted according to a reliability value associated with the vehicle occupant, which has been determined by the driving assistance system on the basis of confirmation actions performed by the vehicle occupants in different situations in the past.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2023
    Publication date: May 15, 2025
    Inventors: Pascal MINNERUP, Peter PEDRON, Bernd SPANFELNER
  • Patent number: 12181288
    Abstract: A method for securing a geographic position of a vehicle includes scanning multiple information sources, which each provide items of information which indicate the position of the vehicle; determining individual positions on the basis of each of items of information of one of the information sources and items of surroundings information in the region of a position hypothesis; validating items of information, the associated individual position of which deviates by not more than a predetermined amount from the position hypothesis; determining the position of the vehicle on the basis of the validated items of information, wherein a change of a quality of the items of surroundings information is determined; and, on the basis of the change, determining a probability at which the determined position deviates by more than the predetermined amount from an actual position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2024
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Alexander Lottes, Pascal Minnerup, Bernd Spanfelner
  • Publication number: 20230271608
    Abstract: A method for operating a driver assistance system of a vehicle includes the steps of: checking whether there is a motorway exit or roadworks on a first side of the vehicle; checking whether an environment sensor system of the vehicle detects a lane marking that bounds a lane of the vehicle on a second side, which is opposite the first side; if the result of the checking is that there is a motorway exit or roadworks on the first side of the vehicle and that the environment sensor system detects the lane marking, operating a lane-keeping function of the driver assistance system; and if the result of the checking is that there is a motorway exit or roadworks on the first side of the vehicle and that the environment sensor system does not detect the lane marking, triggering a takeover request to a driver of the vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2021
    Publication date: August 31, 2023
    Inventors: Dirk DE BRUIN, Sebastian GRUENWEDEL, Christine KOCK, Pascal MINNERUP, Daniel NIEHUES, Sebastian RAUCH, Markus SCHURIUS, Bernd SPANFELNER
  • Publication number: 20220170748
    Abstract: A method for securing a geographic position of a vehicle includes scanning multiple information sources, which each provide items of information which indicate the position of the vehicle; determining individual positions on the basis of each of items of information of one of the information sources and items of surroundings information in the region of a position hypothesis; validating items of information, the associated individual position of which deviates by not more than a predetermined amount from the position hypothesis; determining the position of the vehicle on the basis of the validated items of information, wherein a change of a quality of the items of surroundings information is determined; and, on the basis of the change, determining a probability at which the determined position deviates by more than the predetermined amount from an actual position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 1, 2021
    Publication date: June 2, 2022
    Inventors: Alexander LOTTES, Pascal Minnerup, Bernd Spanfelner